Industrial Economics

The most important gaseous fuel used in the first century of industrial development was town gas. This was produced by two processes: pyrolysis, in which discontinuously operating ovens produce coke and a gas with a relatively high heating value (20,000–23,000 kJ/m3), and the water gas process, in which coke is converted into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide by another discontinuous method (approx. 12,000 kJ/m3 or medium Btu gas). Until the end of the 1920s the only gases that could be produced in a continuous process were blast furnace gas and producer gas. Producer gas was ...

W. Edwards Deming details the system of transformation that underlies the "14 Points for Management" presented in Out of the Crisis. The "Deming System of Profound Knowledge", as it is called, consists of four parts: appreciation for a system, knowledge about variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology. Describing the prevailing management style as a prison, Deming describes how applying the System of Profound Knowledge increases productivity, quality, and people's joy in work and joy in learning.

In this span between armistice and depression, Americans were kicking up their heels, but they were also bringing about major changes in the social and political structure of their country. Only Yesterday is a fond, witty, penetrating biography of this restless decade, a delightful reminiscence for those who can remember and a fascinating firsthand look for those who've only heard.

In this landmark work, acclaimed historian Joshua Freeman has created an epic portrait of a nation both galvanized by change and driven by conflict. Beginning in 1945, the economic juggernaut awakened by World War II transformed a country once defined by its regional character into a uniform and cohesive power and set the stage for the United States’ rise to global dominance. Meanwhile, Freeman locates the profound tragedy that has shaped the path of American civic life.

“Almost Reckless is not just a book, it's a permission slip. It's about the courage it takes to step off the algorithm's path, the clarity that comes from defining your own principles, and the joy of building something that feels unmistakably yours.” —Will Guidara, bestselling author of...

The Roman Empire did not rise on marble, glory, or the genius of a few emperors—it rose on roads, coins, grain, taxes, and the invisible arithmetic of everyday life. Understanding the Economy of the Roman Empire in 10 Days pulls back the curtain on the world’s first large-scale economic engine and shows how a backwater kingdom became the most organized, industrialized, and interconnected civilization of the ancient world. Through immersive 1,000-word historical vignettes and clear, accessible explanations, this book brings you inside the forges of Noricum, the wheat fleets of Alexandria...

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale...

Now featuring a new preface by Peter Thiel Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the bestseller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century...

When the crash of the U.S. stock market became public knowledge in the fall of 2008, it was already old news. The real crash had taken place silently over the previous year, in obscure financial markets where the SEC doesn’t bother to look: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can’t pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was actually happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren’t talking.

When the head of Columbia Pictures, David Begelman, got caught forging Cliff Robertson's name on a $10,000 check, it seemed, at first, like a simple case of embezzlement. It wasn't. The incident was the tip of the iceberg, the first hint of a scandal that shook Hollywood and rattled Wall Street.

Robert Lustig’s 90-minute YouTube video “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”, has been viewed more than two million times. Now, in this much anticipated book, he documents the science and the politics that has led to the pandemic of chronic disease over the last 30 years. In the late 1970s when the...

How has U.S. defense spending shaped the nation's power, economy, and global role over the last century? For more than a hundred years, military budgets have reflected America’s shifting priorities, expanding during global conflicts, contracting in times of peace, and evolving to meet new threats. From the buildup of World War I to Cold War arms races, post-9/11 defense strategies, and today’s emerging security challenges, every era has brought new debates over how much the U.S. should invest in its military and what those choices mean for the future. This book explores the political, ...

This engrossing piece of undercover reportage has been a fixture on the New York Times best seller list since its publication. With nearly a million copies in print, Nickel and Dimed is a modern classic that deftly portrays the plight of America's working-class poor.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Atlantic The Huffington Post Men’s Journal MSN (U.K.) Kirkus Reviews Publishers Weekly #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARD FOR WRITING AND LITERATURE From a Pulitzer Prize–winning...

Author Jeremy Rifkin presents an insider's account of the next great economic era: the Third Industrial Revolution, when a new ethic of sustainability will revolutionize the world we live in.

Disruption dominates innovation theory and practice. But disruption is destructive—displacing jobs, companies, and even entire industries. Are we missing better, and even bigger, opportunities to innovate and grow? With three decades of research, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne reveal another way to innovate and grow. Beyond Disruption redefines and expands the existing view of innovation by introducing a new approach—nondisruptive creation—that is free from the destructive displacement that happens when innovators set out to disrupt.

#1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of This is Your Mind on Plants, How to Change Your Mind, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Food Rules Food. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it? Because in the so-called Western diet, food has been...

A revolutionary new argument from eminent Yale Law professor Daniel Markovits attacking the false promise of meritocracy It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal – that...

Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women. Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture.

Why globalization failed so many Americans and how it still can be saved despite burgeoning economic nationalism. The triumphant globalization that began in the 1990s has given way to a world riven by conflict, populism, and economic nationalism. In The World’s Worst Bet, David J. Lynch offers...